A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #2 - The Final Ring

As much as I enjoyed the first Zebra Mystery Puzzler by Marjorie J. Grove, this second Puzzler, by Marcia Blair, was even better.  Perhaps because this book is shorter, with nearly 50 less pages than the first book, the story moves a bit faster, and honestly, the illustrations are better - crisper with a bit more clarity when it comes to the clues (although not too easy, so don't think they just give it away!).  It also turns out that Marcia Blair may be yet another pseudonym (just as Marjorie J. Grove was).  While there are actually several Marcia Blairs who have been authors over the past five decades or so, this particular Marcia Blair seems to be a pen name for author Marc Baker (Marc Baker as Marcia Blair).  It's curious that these male authors seem to use female pseudonyms to write mysteries with female protagonists, which begs the question: did the authors simply not want to be known for writing female sleuths, or was it the publisher's choice, thinking a series marketed to female readers would sell better with female authors?

 

In any event, The Final Ring is Blair's first Zebra Mystery Puzzler starring Victoria Baxter, a nurse who has a penchant for solving murders. Just as Grove's books all have the "You'll Die..." in the title, Blair's books all feature "The Final..." in the title.  This series had a knack for utilizing similar titles for the same authors and their characters - I suppose that was so readers would instantly know what amateur sleuth they were getting when they picked up a book.  Which is a pretty ingenious idea, when you stop and think about it, because it not only attracted readers who liked one particular author or character, but since they were all published under the same "Zebra Mystery Puzzler" banner, those readers were likely to start picking up other books in the series written by different authors, pulling them into the series as a whole, thus increasing sales.  Whatever the reason, I'm sure people developed their favorite characters as the series progressed, and I'll be curious to see which one I like better than others as I read through the series.

Unlike the previous book which took a while to get to the murder, The Final Ring opens with the murder taking place within the first few pages (albeit off-screen).  Nurse Victoria Baxter, or "Tory" as she is often called, gets a middle-of-the-night call from her good friend and fellow nurse, Peggy Moore, who has been assigned as a caregiver to a wealthy woman who was involved in an accident that left her in a wheelchair.  The call frightens Tory, as Peggy is incoherent and only manages to say a few words:  "Two ... mailman ... bell ... our favorite ..."  While the words themselves make no sense, Tory knows Peggy well enough to realize her friend is experiencing diabetic shock; so, she calls Dr. Robert Clarkson, who also happens to be Peggy's fiance, and he immediately heads out to the Harrington house - but it is too late.  Peggy is dead, and there is nothing anyone can do.  While the death appears to be simply the result of Peggy's failure to take her insulin, or perhaps her lack of proper diet, Tory is certain something else happened.  So, when Dr. Clarkson asks her to take over as caregiver for Mrs. Harrington, Tory agrees, as this will put her in the perfect position to look into the circumstances surrounding her friend's death.

The one thing I like about Tory is that she is very strong-willed and not afraid to speak her mind.  Even though Dr. Clarkson and others try to convince her that Peggy's death was merely an accident, Tory is certain it was not.  That certainty grows stronger when she begins to realize that something sinister is going on inside of the Harrington home.  Mrs. Harrington gets violently ill after a dinner, where no one else becomes sick.  Then she begins to notice that Mr. Harrington's secretary, who visits the house to bring documents for him to sign, is extremely friendly with the man, yet gives a cold shoulder to his wife.  And when the downstairs maid winds up dead at the bottom of the stairs, Tory learns that Mrs. Harrington is afraid for her own life, as a pair of high-heels given to her by her husband have was on the heels, by which she could have easily slipped had she been out of the wheelchair and using the shoes!  Blair weaves a carefully plotted tale that leads the reader in one direction before completely pulling the rug out from under you by the end!  I love it!

And, as I indicated above, the clues in this book are a bit easier to discern, but not as easily solved.  Those incoherent words uttered by Peggy in her death call have a very important meaning that finally makes sense in the penultimate chapter, on those final pages before you reach the sealed chapters.  And believe me, once you figure out the meaning of those words, the entire mystery makes sense, and you realize just how much danger Tory's life is in.  I literally shouted out loud when the clues clicked into place, and I realized what was going on and who was behind it all - and before I opened that final chapter!

The book was definitely well-written and a great read.  Blair introduces the readers to several characters that I expect to see in future books - Jay Thorpe, the police detective with whom Tory is clearly in love with; Sandy Brockman, a resident at Pacific General that treats Tory to the occasional dinner and movie; and Aunt Tildy, Tory's aunt who writes a mystery series about a detective named "Max Good" (which is curious, in that the sleuth in the first mystery by Marjorie J. Grove happens to be nicknamed "Max" - coincidence?).  I did notice that in this book, the final chapter had smaller font than the rest of the book, for which there was not apparent reason.  And thankfully in this second book, the killer is not actually revealed until the final chapter - and Blair manages to put Tory into a situation that makes you turn each page wondering how he is going to get out of it.  This book makes me really look forward to reading her next book (which is book 6 in the series, The Final Lie).  

Now with regard to the interior illustrations - while there is no credit given anywhere as to the artist, the final illustration on page 157 has the name "Luke Ryan" printed near the bottom of the page.  I was not able to find out anything about the man, other than the fact that he apparently provided illustrations for at least one of the Zebra Illustrated Gothics back in the '70s (The Devil's Doorstep).  I wish I could find more of Ryan's work, as his pencil drawings are beautiful, with great detail and perfect shading.  They remind me a bit of Ruth Sanderson's illustrations for the Nancy Drew books in the 1980s.  

 

Finally, I do need to mention one thing I found odd about the formatting of the book. All of the chapters began on the same page where the previous chapter ended.  There were no blank spaced at the end of any chapter page; rather, the next chapter simply began below the ending of the previous.  Until chapter ten, that is.  Chapter nine ends at the top of page 147, while chapter ten starts midway down page 148.  The only reason I can figure for this sudden changer in format is so that the final chapter before the sealed one would end on a right-side page, rather than a left-side.  It doesn't affect the story in any way, but I did find it odd.

RATING:  9 glasses of dry sherry out of 10 for a superb mystery with a fantastic twist at the end that you are likely not to see coming!